Saved by a steering wheel

[AndyMA]

Thanks for all the comments. Yes I was lucky. 50 plus years tractor experience and yes it was close

No more pushing big trees

I had no idea it was spring loaded

Andy

 

[Thomas]

glad your okay...whew.

 

[Jstpssng]

Take the rest of the day off.

Exactly. Step back and think about it. Every time that I do something stupid is because I was tired, hurrying, or hurrying and tired.

To the OP; glad that you are OK. Your post is a timely reminder that accidents don’t just happen to novices.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Like the others I'm glad you are OK. What did it do - pop up over your closed grapple ?? Those things happen so fast that it's not scary until after it's over and you realize what could have happened.

gg

 

[AndyMA]

Yes. I thought the grapple had it but it wasn’t closed on it. Popped over. Very Fast!

 

[Smokeydog]

Count your blessings. Thanks for sharing. Experience helps us all.

Like 4 or 6 post ROPS on tractors handling trees for that very reason. Still have to be careful.

 

[Wagtail]

Firstly, I'm glad that the OP is OK. Thanks for posting.

I know that it's 'hindsight' however, I try to use the "measure twice, cut once" principle... in other words, look at the problem/procedure and figure out what 'could' happen.

 

[jfh0jfh]

Glad you weren't hurt. That's dangerous work

So many injuries - some fatalities - here (SE OH) from moving downed trees that snap back; or cause a branch to fall.

I try to do it only w/ my TROPS machine but sometimes you need to get a job done ...

 

[Lefty7]

I was pushing a downed tree with my grapple when it snapped back. The only thing that save me was it was stopped by the steering wheel

Lesson learned

View attachment 748655View attachment 748656View attachment 748657

I don't use a grapple, (my backhoe with hydraulic thumb suffices as a mini-grapple, as long as the load is well balanced), so this post was very educational for me.

I extend the sentiments of others: glad you're OK. I do know this kind of stuff happens real fast. And yeah: it's scary afterwards - if you're still conscious...

 

[Surshot]

Glad you are OK.
We had one of those tornadoes go through here that never touched down, snapped 130-40 ft tall pine trees off about 10’ above the ground on our tree farm. Looked like pickup sticks, about 200 trees. That was one of the most dangerous things I have ever seen, to try to handle with a tractor. Acres covered with dead fall and spring loaded traps. Look every situation with downed or dead trees over very carefully. Glad you shared